It wasn't until he got to the baggage claim area at Akron-Canton Airport that he realized it was gone.

"It must have fallen out of my pocket," said Cohen, a GlenOak High School graduate. "I had it in my hand as I was getting on the plane from Los Angeles."

Cohen, who was visiting family in North Canton for Thanksgiving, immediately notified the US Airways staff. They couldn't find his ID on the planes he had taken. He called Los Angeles and Charlotte airports the next day. No one had turned it in.

The 42-year-old West Hollywood, Calif., man ended up in a place he likely didn't expect to be for the holidays — the North Canton Police Department — reporting that his driver's license was lost.

The Transportation Security Administration generally requires people to show photo ID to board their flights. So how were Cohen or other holiday travelers who had lost their IDs during their trips going to get home?

TSA spokesman Mark Howell said the agency has procedures to accommodate travelers whose IDs are lost, stolen or left at home.

"Not having an ID does not necessarily mean a passenger won't be allowed to fly," TSA's website says. "If passengers are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of substantiating someone's identity, like using publicly available databases. Passengers who are cleared through this process may be subject to additional screening."

WHAT YOU CAN DO

First, do you have any other type of ID with you, such as a passport or military ID? The TSA provides a list of 15 acceptable IDs. However, people often keep multiple IDs in their wallet or purse along with items that help verify identity, such as credit cards or Social Security cards. If the wallet or purse is lost or stolen on a trip, all the IDs could be lost.

Airlines usually will not allow someone to board an international flight without a passport. If you lose your passport abroad, you're going to have to go to a consulate of the nation that issued it to get a replacement.

US Airways spokesman Andrew Christie wrote in an email that the TSA will permit someone to board a flight if they have two forms of alternate ID and one of them must be a birth certificate, Social Security card, voter registration card or marriage license. The other ID can be a company ID, credit card, library card, auto insurance card or student ID.

Christie said US Airways will only allow a passenger onto a plane without a valid ID if it's a domestic flight and the person is not on a security watch list and they provide an expired ID or a recent police report documenting the loss of the ID. Alternatively, a member of US Airways' frequent flier program can provide identifying information that matches that in their account.

MORE SCREENING

Howell advises travelers to notify their airline if they've lost their ID and to show up at the airport early for extensive secondary screening by TSA officers and to fill out paperwork. He said he understands it's traumatic for people to lose their identification.

"We don't want to add to the trauma, but we also want to keep the rest of the traveling public safe," he said. "They're going to have an opportunity to fly. They're just going to have some additional screening."

Howell added that passengers frequently leave their IDs in the TSA screening area. He said that when that happens, a TSA officer will have the passenger paged by the airport.

A North Canton police officer advised Cohen to check his credit report for signs of identity theft. He fears someone may use his ID to fraudulently incur charges or to try to steal money from his bank accounts.

Cohen said when he arrived at Akron-Canton Airport to catch his return flight, he presented to the TSA his library card with his picture on it and the police report documenting the loss of his ID.

He said a TSA officer gave him a full-body pat down and inspected his bag by hand.

"It didn't take much longer than it did for my wife to go through security. I imagine at a busier airport it might take longer," said Cohen. "It was very amenable. It wasn't particularly intrusive. It didn't inconvenience me."